One of my favorite sayings by George Bernard Shaw is that “we don’t stop playing because we grow old we grow old because we stop playing”. In preparing for today’s blog post I had no idea what to say with regards to this topic, so I did what we all do when we have questions…ask the very smart Google.

However, what I found was less than satisfactory. I typed “how to help others play” and it gave me pages upon pages on “how to teach your children to play nice with others”, “what to do when your child does not want to play” and “help children learn through play”. The reason this was so distressing to me was because it gave me the impression that only children are allowed to play. As if when you are 18 and you can drive, vote and get married you are seen as this adult that must be preoccupied with being an adult. It is expected of you to work and have these responsibilities; you must now relinquish your play abilities to your children.

Continue “Playing is good for the soul”

“There will always be someone that has more than you and there will always be someone that has less than you.”

This is a message most of us have heard from our mothers and probably the most hated. Because you were always told this when you were ranting and raving about how absolutely unfair the world is and you just want someone to agree with you, then they comfort you with THIS!!! WHAT? NO. Tell me life is unfair, tell me it will turn in my favor and tell me that I am right.

However much I wanted to fall deeper into my misery and will the world to change to my whims I realized that, that is impossible and continuing in this belief will just keep me on this roller-coaster of pain and misery.

Change happens by choice and not by chance, it was my choice to keep on blaming the world for all my problems. It was my choice to stay on the ride and it was my choice to not move away from the pain. However, later it was also my choice to get off that roller-coaster and develop an attitude of gratitude.

Here are some great ways to develop an attitude of gratitude so you can see what is right with the world and not focus on what is wrong with it. Continue “Attitude of gratitude.”

We can so easily get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, hardly making any time to deal with the high levels of stress and negative emotions that often accompany such a fast-paced lifestyle. It is important to not keep all that pressure locked up – it will make you explode! So here are some practical tips for letting off some steam.

Continue “Letting off Steam”

I meet people in their most challenging times, when they feel that life is totally meaningless and someone has put off the lights to their joy. This is normal and expected when being admitted to a psychiatric hospital, however as time passes and as people start moving through the healing process you can almost see the light returning to their eyes. I have become quit accustomed to this process of ebb and flow in emotions, however this week I was hit by the worst emotions of them all in this ebb and flow process – Anger!

Not that it is very surprising – you see anger is an easy emotion, therefore whenever we feel totally overwhelmed and have no idea what we are feeling or what to do with this flood of emotions we turn to our ‘primal brain’ for guidance thus pure and unrivaled emotions come spilling out of us in the form of anger. The problem with anger being such an easy and strong emotion is that after some time it becomes the ‘go-to’ emotion and anger starts being the dominant emotion in all things.

Continue “Letting go of anger”

We have probably all at some stage of our lives burnt the midnight oil, whether it was due to studying for that big exam, a late night with friends or the joys of a newborn baby. For some, sleep is merely seen as a necessity and they do not need that much of it. For others, sleep is more of a sacred ritual and they try to get as much shuteye as possible. Some have a love relationship with sleep, but for others, especially those who suffer from insomnia and two-year-olds; it is more of a love-hate relationship.

No matter your relationship with sleep, it is an essential part of our day. Our bodies need to sleep to rejuvenate, heal and re-energize. Not getting enough sleep can be extremely detrimental to your health and well-being.

Continue “How to make sure you get enough Z’s”

We all have those days… You know which ones I’m talking about! Those days where everything just seems like too much effort. We or others may describe us as being moody or overly emotional. You see, the thing which you have to remember about emotions is that they are indicators as to what is happening in our lives and how these happenings may affect our livelihood, health, and relationships with ourselves and others.

Although it may seem like a cliché, our emotions are very much like a roller-coaster and are, to a certain extent, dependent on our environment. A simple example of this is a normal morning: let’s say this morning your alarm clock did not go off and because of that, you are now running a few minutes late. How has this event affected your emotions? You will most probably feel angry that you overslept and may be a bit anxious, knowing that you will be late for work and what consequences may follow. You may feel rushed and overwhelmed, trying to get everything done.

Now let’s say, as you rush to the kitchen to get the kids ready for school, you find that they already got dressed and packed their lunches themselves and are waiting at the car, ready to go. This event will most probably relieve some of those negative emotions and make you feel better. Throughout your day, this may happen – positive and negative events affecting your emotions accordingly. In some cases, due to a stressful event or the loss of a loved one, these “off days” may extend over a longer period of time, but is this depression?

Continue “Warning Signs That You May Have Depression”

You will find it truly difficult to open a women’s magazine without being confronted with some type of relationship how-to article. Articles ranging from “How to find the man of your dreams” to “How to know if he is in to you”, however I have never come across such an article in a (for the lack of a better word) male magazine. Do men not care about relationships or are we, as women, overly sensitive to what a relationship should be and look like? Well, I did the most logical thing most of you would do and turned to “The Google” for answers.

I came across article upon article about “what men want women to know”, “what men really want in a relationship”, and of course the classic “7 things men want from a relationship”. Now with all due respect to each of these writers, who do have some valid points, it seems like the things we (both men and women) want from a relationship are not so different – we may just ask for it in different ways.

What then makes a relationship truly healthy?

Continue “Characteristics healthy relationships have.”

We live in an ever changing and adapting environment. We have information readily available at our fingertips – whenever, wherever we need it. Technology has thrust us into a new world where if you can think it, it can most likely be made possible.

A simple example of how fast we are changing and adapting is the mobile phone. It has been a mere 4 decades since the mobile phone was invented, yet we have gone from a ‘brick’ that had a maximum of 30 minutes talk time, which took 10 hours to charge, to a product where you are able to do your banking, play games, download books, maps and even electronically stalk your high school crush. This is progress, people, with a capital “P”!

However, the question is, are we as a human race keeping up with the demand we have created for ourselves?

Continue “Self-care is Health-care!”

On Monday our ‘Call-us-crazy’ project officially started!  While I was still dreaming my big dreams, the rest of the team started the walk to Magaliesburg.  Flip and I got ready to go to NG Kroonstad Suid for our first motivational talk about mental illness and mental wellness.  Very few people attended. I was not worried about that, but focused on how I could serve people through the talk and that they understood what I was saying. Continue “3 October 2016”